The 14th Annual Spring Plant Sale and Festival at Crabtree Farms will be held Friday, April 11 and Saturday, April 12 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., and Sunday, April 13 from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Free and open to the public, Crabtree Farms’ Spring Plant Sale and Festival will once again offer gardeners healthy, sustainably-grown fruit, vegetable, flower, and herb plant starts for their spring and summer gardens. Guests can enjoy gardening workshops (free of charge), live music, food, and hand crafted items from local artisans.

Crabtree Farms’ greenhouse manager, Mike Barron, grows and propagates the more than 100 varieties of plants found at the sale with help from community volunteers. Specific plant varieties are tested on Crabtree’s Urban Farm to ensure that the plants are well suited to grow in the Chattanooga region.

Vegetables for Sale include: Over 15 varieties of tomatoes including “Sungold” and “Cherokee Purple”

Flowers for Sale include: “Firecracker” Sunflower, Marigolds, and several varieties of Rudbeckia and Zinnias

Hand-crafted gifts and garden goodies will be available from festival vendors, including specialty herb varieties and herbal products fromDown to Earth Farm, lip balm and candles from 423 Balm, and handmade cutting boards from Roughly Speaking. Local non-profit, Fair Share will also sell plants and have their demonstration “Truck Farm” set up all weekend for folks to explore. On Saturday, enjoy live music from Clark Williams of Big Kitty, Farmer Jim Everette, and local hammered dulcimer player Rick Davis. The Lazenby Family Band will be performing on Sunday.

A Kid’s Activity Corner offering face painting and farm games will be available for families to enjoy throughout the weekend. As a special treat, Chattanooga’s very own Bookmark Fairy will be joining the fun; sharing her favorite children’s stories on Saturday and Sunday.

Amidst the festivities on Sunday, Crabtree Farms will host a ‘Local Brunch on the Farm’ to celebrate the release of the Spring/Summer Edition of the TasteBuds Local Food Guide. In the spirit of TasteBuds, the menu will highlight the unique flavors of the Chattanooga region, and will feature options provided by local restaurants 212 Market and Bluegrass Grill. Free copies of the new TasteBuds Local Food Guidewill be available all three days of the Plant Sale.

Main Street Cleveland held its annual Christmas party on Wednesday evening. A new award that acknowledges an individual’s long-term commitment to downtown Cleveland was presented to Allan Jones in memory of George R. "Bobby" Taylor. Mr. Taylor was founder and CEO of bank of Cleveland and instrumental in founding the Mainstreet Cleveland organization. He was a strong supporter ... (click for more)

Here is the weekly road construction report for Hamilton County: U.S. 27 (I-124) widening from I-24/U.S. 27 interchange to north of the Olgiati Bridge over the Tennessee River, including widening the Olgiati Bridge: Work on this project continues. The speed limit on U.S. 27 in the construction zone has been lowered to 45 MPH. The contractor may have ... (click for more)

County school board members are gearing up to set priorities for the next round of new school construction in Hamilton County. Lee McDade, assistant superintendent, said officials may know by the spring how much money will be available to build new schools or add on to existing ones - or do a combination of both. Board member Rhonda Thurman said a proposal to build a new Chattanooga ... (click for more)

Walker County Sole Commissioner-Elect Shannon Whitfield said there will be a new arrangement for holding of public commissioner sessions when he takes place at the start of January. Current Commissioner Bebe Heiskell has held Thursday meetings at 3:30 p.m. from time to time in a conference room at her office near the Walker County Courthouse in LaFayette. Mr. Whitfield said those ... (click for more)

While a noble cause to make sure vehicles are operating efficiently with the minimum amount of pollutants, a simple analysis makes it somewhat evident the VET program in Chattanooga causes more pollution that it prevents. Though I don't know how many vehicles are tested on an annual basis, if you assume an average round trip of 10 miles to the nearest testing station (five ... (click for more)

If I could change one thing about the schools in Chattanooga, my wish would be that everybody could become good friends. I’m talking about the private schools versus the public schools. The rancor is so bad we hardly ever play in sports anymore and what the loathsome TSSAA has done in recent years to the out-numbered private schools is sinful. My dream would be that there would ... (click for more)